Childish Gambino is retiring his rap name, but not before going on an upcoming tour he promises to be the “best live show ever.”
The artist born Donald Glover stopped by Zane Lowe’s Apple Music show on Friday (July 19) to discuss his last album under the moniker, Bando Stone & The New World.
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Around the 13:30 mark, he went into his plans for the Gambino concert experience, plus a reflection on the album, and said: “The whole album, honestly, it’s a big goodbye album. So all of it is made for us to get together. I made the live show. The live show… If this live show isn’t the best live show you’ve ever seen by the first song, you can have your money back. This album was made of is like, ‘Yeah, let’s have a big old party.’
“So when you hear all these songs, you’ll know them. I’m going to add all these new songs. I’m going to add all this new technology, but the live event is what makes it valuable to me. In real life event is what makes it valuable to me. So yeah, it’s a big… The whole album was made for arena rock.”
Glover initially announced the tour back in May, shortly after releasing his album Atavista.
The 58-date jaunt will take Donald Glover across North America, Europe and Oceania between August 2024 and February 2025. He’ll be joined on the road by fellow genre-bending stars Willow Smith and Amaarae.
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The New World Tour kicks off on August 11 in Oklahoma City before venturing to cities such as Toronto, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
The North American leg concludes on October 3 in Chicago. The European excursion then runs from October 31 until December 5, with stops in Milan, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, London and other overseas hotspots.
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Finally, Gambino and co. will jet to New Zealand and Australia early next year for five dates, bringing the globe-trekking tour to a close. Tickets are on-sale now.
The new album is filled with easter eggs and shots at other MCs, including a perceived diss aimed at Joe Budden.
On the track “Survive,” which features Chloe Bailey, Gambino appears to jab Budden over his past rap career and pivot to podcasting.
“They in the minor leagues, but I’m pro-black / I bet he hate his mom, how you know that? / You got a podcast ’cause you can’t rap / You on some Fresh and Fit shit, talking body counts / I count a body every time I’m on tracks,” he raps.
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Budden famously retired from rapping in 2018 and has ruffled the feathers of many an A-list MC for his outspoken opinions, most notably Drake and Cardi B.
Fresh and Fit is a nod to the podcast of the same name, whose hosts have also clashed with the former Slaughterhouse member, while Budden and his co-hosts discussed “body counts” — the term for the number of sexual partners a person has had — in an episode of their show last year.
